2016 Ms. Wheelchair Washington

2016 Ms. Wheelchair Washington
Nicole Martini

Leticia

I was born and raised in Southern California. While attending Magnolia High School, the only other person who utilized a wheelchair on our campus was my friend, Cherry Isaac. I lived right across the street from my High School, so my twin sister and I walked together to school together every morning. We often times passed the apartment of my friend, Leticia Arellano. I talked to her only on occasions. I moved out of state my Junior year of High School. Last year I made myself an account on pushrim.com, which is a social network, just like myspace, but is aimed towards people with disabilities. Shortly after, I received a message from someone saying that they remember me from High School. It was Leticia! We got the chance to reconnect and catch up! Turns out, just a few months after I moved away from California, she was in a car accident and is now paralyzed from the waist down. I started telling her about the Abilities Expo in Los Angeles and the Ms. Wheelchair America pageant that I was planning on attending. She showed up to the Ms. Wheelchair California pageant with her boyfriend to check it out and hang out! It was so awesome to see her again! Me boyfriend, Torrance, and I got to hang out with Leticia and her boyfriend at the pageant and Abilities Expo. It was a day of catching up that I will never forget! Nice seeing you again Leticia!